In integrated circuits, particularly in their use in smart cards, it is possible for a potential attacker to perform an analysis of the integrated circuit (IC), so-called “reverse engineering”, and to use the obtained information either to alter an operation mode of the circuit or to perform a data manipulation in the memory thereof. The process can lead to undesirable consequences particularly in the case of security-relevant circuits, for instance, various cash cards or access authorization functions.
An active shield can protect the IC. However, an attacker may try to avoid the active shield of the IC using a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) method, a probing method, or a forcing method to hack the IC. The FIB method can arbitrarily cut or connect metal lines. The probing method can cut a specific metal line of the active shield using the FIB method and read a state value of the cut metal line. The forcing method can cut a specific metal line of the active shield using the FIB method and provide a specific signal to the cut metal line to manipulate data.